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Romeo y Julieta Museum Edition

Altadis has commissioned 3D artist Charles Fazzino to create prints for their “Museum Edition” cigars, of which there are now two: the 6 x 53 Montecristo, and this one, the 6 x 54 Romeo y Julieta. They are special edition cigars, of course, and as such are touted as “super premiums,” which means that the retail price is exorbitant. In this case, around 30 USD per stick. Yikes.

Fortunately there is a shortage of wastrels in today’s economy, and these cigars can usually be found for less than MSRP. I snagged this one — and one only — for 20 bucks. (The Altadis rep threw in a couple of other top line cigars and a Romeo y Julieta coffee mug gratis, so the net price ended up being about 7 dollars.)

The big draw with this release is the limited edition humidor which houses these big ticket sticks. The humidor includes a signed and numbered giclee print. I’m no art collector, but maybe this will be worth something some day. I hope so anyway, because the price for the whole shebang is $1080.00.

Instead of the pile of gold doubloons that I would expect to find in a box with that price tag there are 36 cigars encased in frosted crystal tubes. A paper thin cedar sheath inside each tube cradles the cigar, along with a Fazzino picture that just barely shows through the frosting on the glass. Me, I’d take the cedar sans the picture, but like I said, I’m no art critic. The gold cap that tops each tube is wedged on pretty tight — I actually crushed the tube in my massive Hellboy-like fist while I was trying to open it in the cigar shop. Be careful with this one, especially if your mechanical skills are as primitive as mine.

This cigar is made in the famous Tabacalera Garcia factory in the Dominican Republic. The wrapper is a San Andres Criollo 98 Rosado (yes, that’s Mexican, but we’re far from Te Amo territory here) with a Connecticut broadleaf binder and a filler blend from Nicaragua and the Dominican. Only one size is made: a 6 x 54 parejo.

Construction Notes

Despite its girth the cigar sits nicely in the hand, and seems to be well rolled. The head is finished nicely with a triple cap but the final piece is jagged and appears a little sloppy. (At $30 per cigar I reserve the right to be picky.) The wrapper is a real beauty though — a rich, dark colorado maduro leaf that glistens with oil.

Even though the pack seems solid enough, the draw is a bit loose. This caused some problems down the road — I sat the cigar down for just a minute to freshen my drink and it went out. On the positive side, it produced plenty of smoke and never burned hot the way some loosely packed cigars will do.

From the start I had trouble keeping this one burning evenly, but this seems to be the curse of really tasty wrapper leaf. It also burns fairly rapidly for a cigar with such a large ring gauge — smoking time was a little under an hour; I expected a bit more from a cigar this size.

Overall construction good, but not 30 dollars good.

Tasting Notes

Almost immediately the Romeo Museum Edition displays tremendous complexity. It’s extremely smooth, mild to medium in body, and has a delicious and distinct aroma. This is obviously the selling point. The wrapper on this cigar is a wonder.

The first notes are the ones that stay for the duration of the smoke: sweet caramel over an herbal base that has an unusually malty edge to it. After an inch or so the herbal flavor morphs into an sweet earthy taste that at times reminded me of something more musky, something almost like gunpowder. It’s complex but very easy on the palate.

Eventually coffee flavors come to the front, though it’s not standard coffee — it’s one of those poncy latte things with cream and caramel and God knows what else. It’s good though. The sweet malty aroma continues, with an occasional whiff of bread.

The last section is a little more straight forward: earthy and sweet, with the caramel notes getting fruitier toward the end. I was a little frustrated with the burn at this point and might have been puffing a little too hard, forcing the cigar to burn too hot. Some acrid notes muscled their way in after I removed the band, but with a little more patience I might have avoided this.

Conclusion

Despite its flaws, the Romeo y Julieta Museum Edition is a terrific cigar. The flavors here are tremendously varied and interesting, spanning the spectrum from sulfurous earth to caramel-sweet bread. The amazing thing is that these disparate flavors never conflict; instead they combine and follow one another in remarkable harmony. The blender here is to be congratulated — this is a really fascinating bunch of leaves.

But with the caveat that I have smoked all of ONE of these cigars, the roll could have been tighter and the burn was less than spectacular. Perhaps this is the price you pay for the smorgasbord of subtleties on display here, but I won’t deny that there were a few relatively minor construction issues.

Keep in mind that this is a fairly mild cigar. I know many veterans of the leaf who would be simply bored with the Museum Edition, but I am not one of them. What this is, I think, is the absolutely perfect beginner’s smoke. It’s quite mild, superbly smooth, and marvelously complex. If your taste runs to powerful pepper bombs that leave your mouth scorched with spice, this cigar is not for you. But if you appreciate the subtleties of milder cigars, definitely give it a shot, as long as the price is right for you. For me, thirty dollars is ridiculous. But if I could snap some of these up for ten, I just might.

I guess the problem is that Altadis owns both the Cuban and the Non-Cuban brands, and they use that as a tool to promote and market the NCs. Which is, well, toolish of them. There’s nothing remotely similar between the Cuban RyJ and the Dominican, but it’s all about turning a buck, isn’t it.

I’ve heard about the Canadian tax situation. It’s a damn shame. Unfortunately it looks like the US is headed in the same direction. I hope it doesn’t get that bad though.